Canada Trip, 2016: Skyline Trail

Here are some photos from our hike of the Skyline Trail in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. There are not a ton of shots from this hike because it was toward the end of a long, rainy day of driving the Cabot Trail. The most prominent memory from this hike was that we almost got run over by an enormous male moose! It was grazing just off the main trail and we stopped along with other hikers to take a look. Some people were taking photos and the moose suddenly took off running down the trail right toward us. We bolted away from it, our lives flashing before our eyes, until the moose finally veered back off the trail and dashed off into the woods. Needless to say, I did not capture that photo! The lesson here–don’t get anywhere near a moose in the wild–we nearly learned that the very hard way. Even though we never left the trail and thought we were being responsible, we were still too close, and the crowd of people gathering clearly spooked the moose.

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Glacier National Park, 2019: Going to the Sun Road

These photos are from various stops during my drive along Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park. Famously depicted in the opening sequence of Kubrick’s The Shining, it is one of the most scenic national park roads I have been on. I was able to drive the entire length in both directions on separate days, which is highly recommended if you have the time.

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Glacier National Park, 2019: Panoramas

This is a collection of panoramas from my visit to Glacier National Park. For the most part I didn’t take any deliberate panorama shots on this trip–these were all stitched together from separate photos that I later realized would make good panoramas. The exceptions are the two night shots, which were sort of deliberate in that I aimed the camera in the dark at different angles for long exposures and hoped for the best (the Lake McDonald one, in particular, turned out pretty well).

The first four photos below feature views from the hotels where I stayed in Apgar Village and Many Glacier; the next three were taken during my hikes of the Highline and Grinnell Glacier trails, and the final photo is a view that should be familiar to fans of The Shining or Big Sky.

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Glacier National Park, 2019: Twin Falls Trail

These photos are from my hike of the Twin Falls Trail in the Two Medicine region of Glacier National Park. I had booked a boat (which I nearly missed after hitting road construction on the way to Two Medicine) to the far end of Two Medicine Lake, where I embarked on a guided hike to Twin Falls. I normally prefer to hike on my own, but being by myself in grizzly country, I thought it best to stick with a crowd, and considering the trees along the trail that were marked with giant grizzly claw scratches, I think it was the right call.

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Glacier National Park, 2019: Running Eagle Falls Trail

These photos are from my hike to Running Eagle Falls in the Two Medicine region of Glacier National Park–actually, more of a stroll as it’s a short, easy trail to get to the falls.

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Canada Trip, 2016: Franey Mountain

The centerpiece of our stay in Cape Breton was our hike of Franey Mountain, an 1,100-foot ascent that took us between 3 and 4 total hours up and down. It could have been done more quickly but we took our time, soaking in and photographing the beautiful scenery of the Cape Breton Highlands along the way (as well as a pretty bird that I believe was a ruffed grouse).

There are two trails that lead to the top. The one we chose for the climb turned out to be the better one in terms of the views–we chose the other trail for the hike back down, which was much less challenging but also much less interesting from a scenery perspective. I don’t remember which was which, but if you’re looking at a map, the straighter looking trail is probably the less interesting one. Either way, you are likely to take both: one on the way up and the other on the way down.

Overall, it’s a beautiful hike. Climbers who reach the peak are rewarded with spectacular views of lush green mountains along a picturesque coast, as well as the opportunity to sign the hiker’s guest book attached to an Adirondack chair at the top. If you find yourself in Cape Breton, Franey Mountain is definitely worth a visit.

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California Trip, 2014: The Road Back from Yosemite

My drive back to San Francisco from Yosemite was quite an adventure. I took a scenic drive along Route 49, also known as the Gold Rush Trail, which winds up and down mountains, featuring beautiful scenery and numerous hairpin turns without any railings. The more treacherous turns are not pictured here because I was too busy trying to stay on the road to think about stopping to photograph them. 🙂

Most of the time I had the entire road to myself. When I stepped outside to take photos it was so quiet that I could hear a pin drop. Overall, it was definitely a detour worth taking. The road continues north well past where I exited; it would be cool to do the whole thing someday.

Click on any photo to open a gallery. The first photo is from the road out of Yosemite, the rest are from Route 49.

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Glacier National Park, 2019: Two Medicine Lake

These photos were shot around Two Medicine Lake, located in the Two Medicine region of Glacier National Park, a lesser-seen area of the park that takes a bit of driving to get to, but is worth the trip if you have the time.

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Glacier National Park, 2019: Trail of Cedars

These photos are from my hike of the Trail of Cedars, an easy stroll through the woods that hooks up with the highly-recommended Avalanche Lake Trail around the halfway point.

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Virginia Trip, 2018: Shenandoah National Park

These photos are from our drives along Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park, including hikes of Hawksbill Summit Trail and Bearfence Viewpoint Trail. Along the latter trail we missed the turn for the easier hike and ended up doing a difficult rock scramble though crevices and steep climbs. I’m sure the rock scramble on this trail is not a problem for experienced hikers, but for us it was a bit harrowing, especially since we were concerned about losing daylight before we made our way back down to the car.

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